For three days, she lived on a bus

Nashik: A woman, who returned home safely after being stranded during the Kedarnath yatra amid cloudburst and flood, recalls her ordeal of living in a bus for three days to survive the nightmare.

"There were heavy rains. Roads and bridges were washed away in the flash flood and we were not aware of the situation. We lived in a bus for three days on biscuits. No contacts could be established on our mobiles too," said Priya Bagul, a resident of RTO colony in Nashik, who returned by Amritsar Express from the horrifying Kedarnath yatra on Saturday.

Ms Bagul said they were later provided shelter by the local administration.

"We had to purchase drinking water bottles at higher rates. People there were also not cooperating," she complained.

A large number of people had gathered at Nashik Road Railway Station to receive their kin who returned from Uttarakhand on Saturday night.

Ms Bagul along with her relatives went on Kedarnath yatra on June 7 and were stranded there amid heavy rains and floods after they left the holy shrine.

Meanwhile, 17 pilgrims from Nashik, who were reported missing, are safe at Joshimath while two sick pilgrims were shifted to Pimpalkothi by helicopter, district control room said.

Other pilgrims from Yeola, Satana and Lasalgaon of Nashik district are safe as well and are likely to return within a couple of days, the control room added.